Apparatus and method for applying a foam coating to ejected hot coke

ABSTRACT

Apparatus and method for applying an adherent foamy layer of bubbles on hot coke as it is ejected from an oven of a battery of by-product coke ovens, wherein a box-like housing extends outwardly from a coke oven guide carriage and over a coke transfer car which car is on a level below the coke oven guide carriage; the housing having an open end facing and alignable with the coke oven and having an open bottom side; and means associated with the housing for generating and applying a foamy coating onto the mass of coke as it passes through the housing; and the foam generating means being mounted on the housing, whereby the foamy coating excludes air from the coke and encompasses any fumes and dust generated by the coke during its ejection and fall into the transfer car.

lJnited States Patent [191 Bricmont [5 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR APPLYINGA FOAM COATING TO EJECTED HOT COKE [75] Inventor: Francis H. Bricmont,Pittsburgh, Pa.

[73] Assignee: Bricmont Associates, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa.

22 Filed: July 19, 1971 211 App1.No.: 163,947

[52] U.S. CI. ..201/39, 202/227, 202/263 [51] Int. Cl. ..C10b 39/00 [58]Field of Search ..20l/39, 41; 202/263,

202/262, 227-230, 264, 269, 226; 15/l04.l C; 169/15, 2 R

[4 1 May 22,1973

2,596,601 5/1952 Richardson...; ..l69/l5 X Primary Examiner--NormanYudkoff Assistant ExaminerDavid Edwards Attorney-Brown, Murray, Flick &Peckham [5 7] ABSTRACT Apparatus and method for applying an adherentfoamy layer of bubbles on hot coke as it is ejected from an oven of abattery of by-product coke ovens, wherein a box-like housing extendsoutwardly from a coke oven guide carriage and over a coke transfer carwhich car is on a level below the coke oven guide carriage; the housinghaving an open end facing and alignable with the coke oven and having anopen bottom side; and means associated with the housing for generatingand applying a foamy coating onto the mass of coke as it passes throughthe housing; and the foam generating means being mounted on the housing,whereby the foamy coating excludes air from the coke and encompasses anyfumes and dust generated by the coke during its ejection and fall intothe transfer car.

7 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures 'J XE M Patented May 22, 1973 2 Sheets-Sheet2 klkj BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Thisinvention relates to a system for controlling the emanation of smoke anddust from hot coke as it is ejected from a by-product coke oven and forexcluding air from the coke as it settles into a coke transfer car.

2. Description of the Prior Art One phase in the production of cokeinvolves the pushing or ejection of coke from an oven of a battery ofby-product coke ovens at the completion of the coking operation whichoperation involves the baking of coal in the absence of air in order toobtain volatile matter from the coal and thereby produce thecharacteristic coke lumps. It has been the practice to dump the cokefrom the oven to a so-called quench car which operates on a ground leveltrack parallel with the battery and below the coke ovens. During thatoperation, a considerable amount of smoke and dust is generated andconstitutes a source of air pollution. Moreover, the coke isincandescent and begins to burn upon exposure to the air. It is thepractice, however, to rapidly transfer the coke in the quench car to aquenching tower where water is showered onto the fiery mass of coke.

Heretofore few, if any, attempts have been made to control or abate thesmoke and dust which is generated during the ejection of coke from theovens into quenching cars. Indeed, contemplation of the problem normallyresults in a structure that would be too costly to reasonably consider.Accordingly, it has been ignored.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It has been found in accordance with thisinvention that the foregoing problem may be satisfied in a relativelyinexpensive manner by providing nozzles on the coke guide car fordirecting streams of fireextinguishing foam onto the hot surface of thecoke as it is discharged from the coke oven and thereby denying the hotsurface the necessary oxygen to burn openly. At the same time, the foamserves as a blanket to abate the smoke, noxious fumes, and dust that aredischarged into the surrounding atmosphere. The foam layer remains onthe coke surface in the quench car until it is subsequently washed awayat the quenching tower.

Moreparticularly, this invention contemplates the addition of a box-likehood to the conventional coke guide car which car is used for openingthe exit door of the oven and for guiding the coke from the oven intothe quench car at a lower level. The hood extends from the side of thecoke guide car and over the quench car where the foam is applied beforesmoke, fumes, and dust have a chance to flow out and arise into thesurrounding atmosphere. The hood is also provided with means forapplying a layer or blanket of foam onto the surface of the coke in thequench car.

Manifestly, the advantage of the device and method of this invention isthe elimination of smoke and open burning at the critical time when cokeis discharged from the coke ovens and during its transfer to thequenching tower where upon the application of a shower of quenchingwater, the foam is washed away.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a vertical sectional viewthrough the coke side of a by-product coke oven and showing the deviceof this invention extending outwardly over a quench car, and

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 11-11 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The coke side of a battery ofby-product coke ovens is shown wherein one oven 10 is shown in theprocess of being discharged together with a coke guide car or carriage12, a quench car or coke transfer car 14, and a housing or hood 16 whichconstitutes the device of the present invention. After a door (notshown) is removed from the right end of the coke oven 10 by the cokeguide car 12 in a conventional manner, a ram 18 is pushed against themass of incandescent coke 20 from the pusher (left) side of the oventhrough the open (right) end thereof. As the coke 20 is discharged, itpasses through the coke guide 12 and drops into the car 14 by which itis transferred to a quenching station where it is quenched with water.As shown, the car 14 is mounted on wheels 22 on tracks 24 which are on alevel below tracks 26 on which the coke guide car 12 is mounted. Thus,the coke guide car 12 and the quench car 14 serve the entire battery ofcoke ovens.

As shown in FIG. 1, the coke guide car 12 provides a box-like passage 28which is disposed between upper and lower horizontal walls 30 and 32 andspaced side walls 34 and 36, the latter of which has an upper portionbroken away to show the top of the coke 20 as it is pushed through thechamber 28 during the discharge from the oven 10. The side walls 34 and36 are reinforced by members 31 and 33.

The device of the present invention is the housing 16 which is attachedto and extends outwardly from the coke guide car 12. The housing 16 is abox-like structure including spaced vertical walls 37 and 38, an upperwall 40 (FIG. 2), as well as an end wall 42 which provide a chamber 44which is aligned with the passage 28 of the coke guide car 12 forreceiving the mass of coke 20 as it is pushed through the guide passage28.

As viewed in FIG. 1, the left end of the chamber 44 (opposite the endwall 42) is open and the lower side (FIG. 2) is also open, whereby thecoke 20 enters and leaves the hood 16 as it drops into the quench car14. The several walls 37-42 are supported by suitable metal beamsincluding vertically spaced horizontal beams 46 and 48 and verticalbeams 50 extending therebetween. The beams are disposed on oppositesides of the chamber 44. In addition, a pair of curtains 52 and 54 ofchains hang from the underside of the beams 48'to limit the lateralmovement of the coke 20 as it drops into the quench car 14.

As shown in the drawings, means for generating and distributing foamonto the coke 20 are provided on the housing 16. The means include afoam generator unit generally indicated at 55 and including a fan 56, aplurality of spaced nozzles 57 connected to a conduit 58, and a wovenfabric foam-forming net 59. The foam generator 55 functions in a mannersimilar to that dis-' closed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,533,473. Moreparticularly, the conduit 58 is connected to a valve 60 which mixeswater from a pipe 61 with a wetting or foaming agent from pipe 62. Anysuitable wetting agent or foaming agent from pipe 62 is usable togenerate bubbles on the net 59.

In operation, the solution containing a wetting agent is sprayed bynozzles 57 onto the net 59 while fan 56 forces air through housinginlets 55a. When the net 59 through which the air passes, is sprayed onone side with the foaming agent solution foam is formed on the lowerside of the net as shown in FIG. 2. The foam 64 is produced by the airblowing bubbles from films of liquid that extend across the holes in thenet. The wetting agent accumulates and saturates the strands forming thenet 59 and foam continues to form and quickly enters the chamber 44through an opening 41 in the upper wall 50. The foam also moves quicklyinto foam conduits 68 and 70 through corresponding openings 72 and 74 inthe walls of the foam generator housing.

The quantity of foam generated by spraying the solution containing awetting and foaming agent into the chamber results in the creation ofwater-containing bubbles which substantially instantaneously completelyfill the unoccupied portion of the chamber 44 of the housing and therebyprevent any smoke, fumes or dust that would otherwise tend to arise fromthe coke 20 as it tumbles and falls to the quench car 14. The quantityof foam generated is of such a magnitude that it fills the portion ofthe space under the housing 16 and between the chain curtains 52 and 54.As the foam 64 contacts the incandescent coke 20 the water in the foamforms steam which smothers any fire which would otherwise occur.

The foam conduits 68 and 70 extend from opposite sides of the generator56 and downwardly along the sides of the housing to the lower ends ofthe vertical walls 37 and 38. Inasmuch as the foam expands very rapidlyupon injection from the nozzles, the conduits 68 and 70 are preferablyflared and extend downwardly and outwardly from their upper ends to thelower ends of the walls 37 and 38. As the foam moves through the loweropen ends of the conduits 68 and 70, it drops onto the coke in the car14 and provides a layer or blanket for excluding air and for suppressingany smoke, fumes or dust which would otherwise occur. Subsequently, whenthe coke is transferred to the quenching station it is washed away bythe quenching water.

The foam which is contemplated for use herein is produced frompreviously known materials such as disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,186,943which have large expansion ratios in the order of from about 50/1 to2000/1. In all cases, the air-foam solution is derived from volumetricdilution of foam-liquid concentrate. This is an important advantage infire control in that when the bubbles burst or drain, the material incontact therewith is wetted.

For the purpose of this invention, the foam may be composed of aqueoussolutions of soap and/or organic materials including protein foam asdisclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,186,943. Another example of theeffectiveness of high expansion foam for smothering fires by excludingoxygen is disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,533,473.

Although the invention has been shown in connection with a certainspecific embodiment, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in theart that various changes in form and arrangement of parts may be made tosuit requirements without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a method for pushing coke out of a by-product coke oven and into ahot coke-receiving car including the steps of ejecting the coke from theoven into the car and transporting the coke to a quenching station, theimprovement comprising the step of enclosing the ejected coke within acover by applying a coating of foam to the coke as it falls and collectsin the car for excluding air from the coke and for preventing smoke,fumes, and dust from polluting the atmosphere during its ejection andtransport to the quenching station.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the foam is a hubble mass of an aqueoussolution selected from a group consisting of soap and a protein.

3. In apparatus for handling ejected coke from an oven of a battery ofby-product coke ovens wherein there are a coke transfer car on a levelbelow the battery and coke guide carriage on a level with the batteryand between the car and the coke oven, the improvement comprising abox-like housing extending outwardly from the carriage and over thetransfer car, the housing having an open end facing and alignable with acoke oven and having an open bottom edge and extending over the transfercar, and means associated with the housing for generating and applying afoamy coating onto a mass of coke as it passes through the housing anddrops into the transfer car, whereby the foamy coating encompasses anysmoke, fumes, and dust generated by the coke.

4. The housing of claim 3 in which the means for generating and applyingfoam includes means for injecting foam into the housing.

5. The housing of claim 4 in which the means for generating and applyingfoam includes other means on at least one side of the housing forinjecting a foamy coating upon the surface of coke in the transfer car.

6. The housing of claim 5 in which the other means includes foam conduitmeans leading from the foamgenerating means to the lower edge of thehousing for conducting and directing foam onto the coke in the transfercar.

7. The housing of claim 3 in which the foam is a bubble mass of anaqueous solution selected from a group consisting of soap and protein.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the foam is a bubble mass of an aqueoussolution selected from a group consisting of soap and a protein.
 3. Inapparatus for hanDling ejected coke from an oven of a battery ofby-product coke ovens wherein there are a coke transfer car on a levelbelow the battery and coke guide carriage on a level with the batteryand between the car and the coke oven, the improvement comprising abox-like housing extending outwardly from the carriage and over thetransfer car, the housing having an open end facing and alignable with acoke oven and having an open bottom edge and extending over the transfercar, and means associated with the housing for generating and applying afoamy coating onto a mass of coke as it passes through the housing anddrops into the transfer car, whereby the foamy coating encompasses anysmoke, fumes, and dust generated by the coke.
 4. The housing of claim 3in which the means for generating and applying foam includes means forinjecting foam into the housing.
 5. The housing of claim 4 in which themeans for generating and applying foam includes other means on at leastone side of the housing for injecting a foamy coating upon the surfaceof coke in the transfer car.
 6. The housing of claim 5 in which theother means includes foam conduit means leading from the foam-generatingmeans to the lower edge of the housing for conducting and directing foamonto the coke in the transfer car.
 7. The housing of claim 3 in whichthe foam is a bubble mass of an aqueous solution selected from a groupconsisting of soap and protein.